Aussie Scrap Source

weekend inspiration: echo park papers

 

 

Here Leeann has used Echo Park for the record 2 collection. When Leeann had the papers in hand she knew she wanted to find the perfect photo to match with the bright colours. Leeann kept the page design simple but packed a punch by creating rows of arrows using assorted papers from the collection. And finished it off by using the coordinating chipboard embellishments!

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The Echo Park Ballet Collection kit is perfect for making those special cards for daughters, nieces, friends and anyone girl that loves to dance! The kit comes complete with these gorgeous cardstock stickers and wonderful co-ordinating double sided papers.  Add a bit of a bling and they will be any girls dream card!

 

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Another fabulous design team member for Echo Park is Davinie Fiero who created both these fabulous pages using for the record 2. We love the designs and how the colours really pop on each one. Thank you so much for letting use share a few of your pages.

 

Erin Yamabe has created the above layouts and card using the Everyday Eclectic range by Echo Park.  Erin has fun photos to captured the playfulness of the papers in this range.  Please sit back and enjoy Erin's fabulous creations.  Thank you Erin!

 

Finally we have a few projects created Tamara Tripodi who also happens to be part of the echo park design team. We love the details and colour combo in this card using For the Record2 Documented.

We love the way Tamara used the Everyday Eclectic collection on this box. Those stickers sure do pop and add such a fun element.

weekend inspiration: paper loft

 

 

Kim has used the mellow colours in the Paper Loft Easy Breezy range perfectly with this photo of her and her husband.  The phrases that co-ordinate with the range work beautifully to provide journaling and replace the need for a specific title.  Kim had not worked with The Paper Loft products before but loved how they came together for this project.

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Jane fell in love with the vintage floral designs in the Gentler Times collection and she continued the aged feel of the papers by sanding the edges and inking them. She built the layers up with foam tape, frayed piece of hessian, and an old doily. A pretty sentiment from the accessory sheet was placed on top and then flowers and a ribbon bow were added to enhance the pretty colours of the papers.

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Jane had this beautiful collections of papers in front of her and wanted a way to show a few at once, so she cut stripes from five of the papers, distressed the edges of them then added to her card front, it’s easy and looks very effective! The flowers and ‘friendship’ word were trimmed from the accessory sheet and added to the card using foam mounting tape.

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Michele Kovak from the Paper Loft design team created this stunning card using a combination of papers from Gentler Times and Hooked on Fishing.  We love the subtle shading of the papers and the flower.

 

And how cute is this card from the Huckleberry Pond range, by Paper Loft Designer Vicki Garrett.  We love how their papers allow the focal point to take center stage rather than compete with it -  whether the focal point is a photo or a frog stamp!

weekend inspiration: fancy pants

 

 

The Hopscotch range from Fancy Pants is a bright, fun filled range that has a definite spring/summer feel about it.  Leanne Whitby enjoyed using the 6x6 paper pad, buttons and sticker sheet from the range to create these three cards which all have their own unique style.

 

Leanne chose papers from the 6x6 paper pad to give this card soft spring theme.  She then added some banner stickers, buttons and punches.

 

To create this “sewing” themed card Leanne decided to spritz, scrunch and iron dry her paper to give it a textured, fabric like look for the background and accents on her card.  She then added a cute tag with some faux stitching and pinking sheared edging. 

 

Spring is synonymous with birds chirping and flowers blooming. Leanne selected two gorgeous Poppy Stamps dies together with the brighter Hopscotch papers from the 6x6 pad to create this card.

 

Kim the 12x12 patterned papers from the Hopscotch collection for this page about her daughter. Kim used the “cool” die-cut as a mist template, as well as layering it to create the page title. Her finished layout really highlights how mist can alter die-cuts.  For her journaling Kim made great made use of the 12x12 page of Sticker Fundamentals. The printed words and array of mini alphas worked well together to create colourful journaling collage.  Kim’s gorgeous creations can be found over on her blog.

 

These stunning cards were created by Piradee from the Fancy Pants Design Team.  Here is what Piradee said about her cards and the paper range -  “I absolutely adore the sweet colours along with the pop of pink and the vintage designs in this collection—check out that floral pattern paper and you’ve got to see the newsprint one too. And the collection is just perfect for some cheery fun cards…”  Thanks for sharing your designs Piradee, your cards a beautiful, fun and definitely cheery!

 

 

Need some really cute ideas for Christmas tags?  Valerie Sanchez from the Fancy Pants Design Team has whipped up these gorgeous examples using the beautifully traditional Home for Christmas range.  She shares a how-to for it on the Fancy Pants blog here.

 

Looking for calendar ideas for next year?  We just found this fabulous project by Design Team member Jess Mutty, along with a complete tutorial for making it here on the Fancy Pants blog.  She has used the Good Life patterned paper range with its striking bright colour palette. 

weekend inspiration: my mind’s eye

 

 

The All is Bright collection from MME is a beautiful mix of vintage images and patterns and is perfect for scrapping your Christmas photos.  Sue has always adored Rhonna Farrer's designs so was very excited when MME released this collection.  Sue has hand cut many of the gorgeous images and layered them together with rosettes and the beautiful brads, to create this fun page.

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My Minds Eye never fails to impress and inspire you with their lovely Christmas collection releases and this year their Winter Wonderland is stunning.  The colour combination of red, blue and green throughout, together with the matching chipboard elements, stickers, twines and buttons make it a fabulously fun range to work with.  Leanne has created three cards with the 6x6 paper pad and some of collections co-ordinating embellishments. 

 

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Leanne designed this card to allow a treat of some kind to be included.  The pocket gift tag has some added decorative elements added so when the treat is removed the card still looks complete.   The 6x6 paper pad papers are double sided so the tag pocket need only to be cut once and you still see the two patterned effect.  Leanne then added some trim and co-ordinating chipboard buttons to finish it off.

 

Using the house themed chipboard buttons as a springboard Leanne created this card with her neighbours in mind.  She added a little sparkle to the chipboard elements with clear glitter pen and used a border punch to add some detail to the cards layout.

 

 

For this card Leanne used a simple block patterned background and added some bling and ribbon to finish off.  The sentiment embellishment was created from one of the mini tag pages included in the 6x6 paper pad.

 

We need double page inspiration around Christmas time, and though ours certainly isn’t winter, there’s plenty of inspiration to be found on this multi photo layout by MME DT member Shelly Jaquet.  She has used the All is Bright collection, and even has hidden journalling under her tag in the top left hand corner.

 

 

This gorgeous page was designed by Sarah Klemish using Lost and Found 3 Ruby collection.
http://sarahklemish.typepad.com

 

Jana Eubank from the My Minds Eye Design Team created this stunning layout using the Winter Wonderland collection.  Jana incorporated the fun chipboard embellishments together with buttons, decorative tape and other co-ordinating journaling elements to showcase her son, Owens, snow day fun.  Thank you for sharing your lovely layout with us Jana.

 

 

 

 

Michelle Woerner created these two gorgeous cards using the Winter Wonderland collection.  The Christmas tree was created from paper strips and Michelle added a piece of ribbon along the bottom of each tree piece.  The use of stamped little snowflakes on the background created a perfect backdrop to showcase the tree.  Thank you Michelle for sharing your beautiful cards.

weekend inspiration: martha stewart

 

Jill has turned a canvas panel into a gorgeous celebration of the Christmas tree.  She has used the Martha Stewart Starry Sky punch with golden glitter paper and used the stars to decorate the night sky and the tree.

 

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Martha Stewart is an American business magnate , author, magazine publisher, and television personality but in the paper crafting world we know her as the lady who brings us the most stunning punches and paper crafting tools around.   This week Leanne has been playing with her favourite MS punches and has two cards.  She has then carried the techniques, designs and punches through to create an off the page project as well.  The punches work so well with any type of project, paper collection, card or layout.

This elegant butterfly card feature Prima paper and cardstock punched butterflies.  Layering up the butterflies adds dimension to the card.  The versatility of the border punches means you can use the punch in it’s entirety or just they can be subtly added beneath another element as Leanne has done on this card.

 

 

This card featured the MS pre cut doilies which are a quick addition to any project.  Leanne has also used the deep edge punch to create a special decorative border down the sides of the card.

 

Leanne used an IKEA lamp to create this beautiful lamp that any little girl would love.  It features a pre-cut doily, foliage and butterfly punches.  Leanne loves to layer up the punched butterflies then scrunch to top layer to give the butterfly a sense of movement. 

Adding the punched foliage around flowers helps to frame and highlight the flowers.

 

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Betsy Clark aka Miss Betsy has used Martha Stewart border punches to create borders and frames on her beautiful cards. Betsy is a huge fan of Martha Stewart punches and uses them on many of the stunning cards she creates.  Thank you Betsy for sharing your work with us.

 

 

The very creative and talented Camilla Ekman has used an around the page punch to create the beautiful background for this layout.  The punched edge adds an extra detail to the layout and works so well with all the other elements on the page.  Thank you for sharing your layout with us Camilla.

o christmas tree!

It’s not too late to create something amazing and handmade for your christmas table.  Here are some wonderful christmas trees and bauble ideas our design team has come up with this year.

 

Jill took the glorious colours of the Fancy Pants Hopscotch Collection and turned them into a delightful Christmas tree.  By rolling punching out large circles, damping each piece and rolling them into tiny flowers, the tree is filled with the colours to suit our Australian Christmas.  Would make a beautiful centrepiece for any Christmas table.

 

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Every year Suz likes to do something different with her Tim Holtz Tree of Life.  This year she has used Webster’s Pages Royal Christmas range to create tags to hang on it. She trimmed the Journal Cards to tag shape, which even gives her room to write on the backs.  Each tag has been treated to a light washing of gesso, and layers of the beautiful Websters trims along with a Royal Christmas Cameo as the focal point, finishing off with a smattering of co-ordinating glitter.

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With this project, Jill has carefully folded all the pages of a vintage dictionary to turn it into a Christmas tree.  To decorate her tree, she has punched some butterflies from a couple of the vintage pages and painted them with the Luminarte Key Lime glazes.

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Leanne used a cotton spool and foam cone to create the base for this cute little Christmas Tree. By using a few different sizes of a 6 petal flower punch, some inking and scrunching Leanne added layers of patterned paper to the cone.  The tree really highlights just how well the Winter Wonderland papers co-ordinate together.  Adding the enamel dots as baubles at the end gave the tree some added dimension.  The tree was topped with a die cut star wrapped around a toothpick.

 

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And last, but certainly not least, Stacey decided to make a shabby, Ornament Wall/Door hanging for her Christmas decor project.  She had a packet of Styrofoam balls just waiting to be used.  Each ball was made differently to the next.  Stacey cut, punched, folded and ripped various pieces of paper from the Pink Paislee City Walks collection.  Lots of of trims, ribbons and lace were added to create the shabby look of the ornaments.  It is a versatile piece and can be used a number of ways, on a front door, as a centre piece or as a modern take on mistletoe.

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weekend inspiration: sei

 

 

SEI’s Berry Melody is a totally delightful Christmas range with a colour palette of pretty aquas and pinks.  Along with the patterned papers and usual die cuts and alphas, SEI has included a pack called ‘Sundries’ – brimming with mini pegs, tulle, tinsel, pearls, twine and more.  It’s super handy for all the finishing touches for a layout like Suz Doyle’s above.  She has created this layout to hang on the wall this Christmas with some of her favourite tree shots of the kids from past years.

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Kim has used the Desert Springs range from SEI to highlight the warm tones in these lovely photos perfectly.  The dimensional flower stickers have been used by Kim to create a soft border on what would otherwise be a very structured layout.  Kim has also used some of the banner stickers to create her journaling lines.  It is always good to think of alternative uses for embellishments in order to maximise their potential.

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How cute is this advent calendar using the Berry Melody collection.  The soft colour palette is perfect for decor items as well as scrapbook pages.

 

 

The Mirelle collection from SEI is full of autumnal tones and designs, though with the metallic highlights we think it is versatile to be used at plenty of other times too.  We thank Sarah Webb from the SEI design team for this fun and lively layout.

 

 

Amy Kingsford from the SEI design team created this eyecatching page using the Field Notes collection – full of wood and neutral tones and bright butterflies.

 

 

Finally how fabulous is this page by Pearl Lai, also from the SEI design team.  She has used Field Notes in a really fresh way, and we love that it becomes a feature on a photo free page. 

weekend inspiration: websters pages

 

Stacey's middle son had finally worked up the courage to have his face painted.  She wanted to document this "first" time so creating with the Webster's Page's 'Once Upon A Halloween' collection was a perfect fit for his little spider face.  Stacey loved the spider transparency and just had to add her own spiderwebs.  She finished it off by layering the Cameos and Petals.

 

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Here Leeann has used the park drive collection by Webster’s. Leeann loves the simpler patterns and solid colour designs and finds then much easier to work with. Leeann used the printed circles as an embellishment on the page and punch a few of them out and mounted then using 3D foam tape which gave them extra dimension.

 

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Thanks to Anabelle O’Malley for this sweetest ever Halloween card – how would that not make you smile if you were given it?.

 

 

 

We would like to thank Rachael funnel for letting us share a couple of her pages which provide plenty of fussy cutting details and layered embellishments using park drive by Webster’s. You can see more of Rachael’s work here.

 

Erin Blegen shares this wonderful layout on the Websters’s Blog with a fabulous tutorial for fussy cutting elements here.  We love how she has combined Winter Fairy Tales and Once Upon a Halloween to produce both pretty colours and strong contrast.

 

Websters DT Member Jaz Lee has made brilliant use of the Game On collection to produce this fab page, which shows us Webster’s isn’t just all about girly deliciousness.  We love how she has layered so many elements right in the centre of the page, including an ‘edited’ version of the Keep Calm and Scrap On cameo!

 

And how about something from the Royal Christmas line, by Websters Designer Stacey Michaud.  We love how she added her journalling strips to the stars and added perfect little details like the lace and the crown on her daughters head.

 

Finally, if you’re still in need of Christmas Card inspiration, look no further than this post on the Websters blog -whether you like them simple and element like Anabelle O’Malleys (top) or layered and full of detail like Erin Blegen (below).

christmas decorating

Christmas is close now, the cards are posted (right?!) and it’s time to turn your attention to last minute details around the house.  Here are some beautiful ideas from our design team to inspire you to add some magic to your home.

 

What a fun way to personalise a table place setting; making your own place card holders and using photos instead of name tags. Lou created these with the fabulous ART-C mixed Media products from LYB. They are available in a great variety of colours so could be created to suit a variety of festive themes.

 

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Sue loved the City Sidewalks release from Pink Paislee.  She decided to make a vintage style banner to hang on her wall.  Sue used a mix of the patterned papers, hessian and embellishments from the range to create this beautiful decor item.  Such a fun and quick project for the Christmas season.  It could easily be re-created using other ranges.

 

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Leanne used a cotton spool and foam cone to create the base for this cute little Christmas Tree.  By using a few different sizes of a 6 petal flower punch, some inking and scrunching Leanne added layers of My Minds Eye Winter Wonderland patterned paper to the cone.  The tree really highlights just how well the Winter Wonderland papers co-ordinate together.  Adding the enamel dots as baubles at the end gave the tree some added dimension.  The tree was topped with a die cut star wrapped around a toothpick.

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scrapbooking the everyday – stacey young

 

Stacey choose to create something a little less traditional for her "Project Life" creation.  Mini albums are taking the scrapbooking world by storm at the moment so she decided to go with that approach. 

 

 

 

 

She started out with the Heidi Swapp Memory File boards and punched a hole in the top to connect them together instead of placing them in the actual file system.  Creating the mini album allowed her to embellish to her hearts content but also allowed her to capture and journal about her life's everyday moments. 

 

 

 

 

Stacey believes she isn't much of a journaller but was so happy this project pushed her to write down those everyday thoughts and feelings.  The Heidi Swapp Vintage Chic collection was a perfect fit for her Project Life mini album.

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weekend inspiration: pebbles inc

 

 

Pebbles has some of the most colourful, fun, and easy to use products in the market. For this post, Iris came up with three ways to use her stash of Pebbles "Seen and Noted" Products. First up is this fun and colourful layout of her kids goofing around in the coffee shop while she and her husband were trying to enjoy their coffee.

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Next, she used her papers and stickers for a Project Life  kind of page. Using Photo sleeves with the papers, and phrase tags were so easy. The tags were perfectly measured for the smaller photo sleeves as well as the A4 sized photos. This was so much fun to do! And as a bonus, since the papers and tags, were double sided, as soon as Iris flipped the page protector, she realized that the other side was done as well and only needed photos and a few stickers!! So easy and so fun to do!!

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Finally, Iris found this photo album by Pebbles. Perfect to house all of those random A4 photos that you think won't make it inside the scrapbook album anymore. Just stick your photo at the front cover, add embellishments, and you are ready to keep adding photos inside. So practical!!

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Leanne enjoyed making these cards using the Pebbles Inc Walnut Grove collection. It is a beautiful collection of papers which have teal, blue, yellow and pinks throughout.  Each of the papers in the collection is quite different in its design and colour way and yet they all work so well together.   This paper collection came with perfectly paired embellishments and Leanne chose to work with the tag set, masking tape stickers and clothespins.

When Leanne creates cards she loves to alter some of the premade embellishments so she can create a number of different looks with the one product.  Here Leanne removed the tag top and made the “Many Thanks” into a sentiment label. Leanne also used some edge distressing and simple folding and sanding techniques to create a faux stitching border.

 

On this card Leanne chose to alter the appearance of the tag by cutting off the wording and transforming it into a banner embellishment. In addition to the faux stitching border Leanne made some tears in the border and inked them.

 

The Walnut Grove collection features a wood grain patterned paper which Leanne has used to simulate an old fence.  By using some double sided tape and carefully layering the palings on the fence the cards instantly had some definition.

 

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Christa Paustenbaugh made this simple and yet stylish card to give to her husband on their 15th wedding anniversary.  Here is what she said, at the time, about the Walnut Grove collection:
I am absolutely in love with this new Pebbles line and couldn't wait to get my hands on it in person! The rich colours are really amazing and even better in person. I whipped up this card quickly as my husband and I celebrate 15 years of wedded bliss! I just punched some circles from the phrase cards and layered with stickers and some twine. Very simple card with a sweet sentiment."

 

This layout has been created by Kim Jeffress from the Pebbles Inc DT (and incidentally an Aussie scrapbooker and paper crafter).  In her layout you can see the way she has been able to match the soft teal colours in her photo to those in the Walnut Grove collection and beautifully tied the papers and the photos together on her stunning layout.

weekend inspiration: glitz designs

 

Stacey has 'a thing' for the colour grey at the moment. The "Yours Truly" collection by Glitz had perfect grey patterns to use a base for her layout.  She added in splashes of yellow to complement the grey.  Stacey's favourite part of this collection would have to be that cute little elephant motif, perfect to match her cute little boys.  She believes this collection is very versatile and the possibilities are endless.

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Well it seems that Leeann has fallen in love with another manufacturer – Glitz.  You can’t help but fall for them. Leeann has used papers and embellishments from Cashmere Dame. We know it was the bright colours and designs on the papers that had Leeann hook line and sinker! But it didn’t stop there - the clear stickers and washi tape is also completely yummy! I think we can all agree on how gorgeous this line is!

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Here is another layout using the "Yours Truly" collection from Glitz by Georgia Heald.  This is so much fun and quirky, we love the design of the squares.  Thankyou Georgia for letting us share you wonderful work.

 

We also have a fabulous page by Janna Werner who also happens to be a design team member for Glitz.  Janna has used the “Yours Truly” range. Thank you Janna for letting us share one of your pages!

 

Kelly Foster has kindly allowed us to share her amazing take on the "Yours Truly" collection by Glitz.  The design is fantastic and there are so many layers here to uncover.

 

Finally, today we are very lucky to have Karola Witczak who is also part of the glitz design team share a few projects with us. We love the attention to detail all that fussy cutting and layering using  cashmere damn collection.

 

Another gorgeous page created by Karola who has mixed and match 3 collections using “French kiss” “Happy Travel” and “Dance in the Sunshine”. Thank you Karola for letting us share your stunning pages!

christmas cards – special!

We’ve spent the last couple of weeks covering quick Christmas cards – the kind you can make a whole batch of, that probably should be in the mail any time now!    You can find these posts here and here. You can find heaps of inspiration if you click over on the Christmas button on the sidebar too.

Now we want to bring you some ideas for the more special cards – the ones that you might only make a few of each year.  For recipients who mean a lot, or for those who appreciate the extra work that goes into such a card.

 

 

Jane tends to make larger cards when it’s for someone special as she usually likes to write a small novel in them of the happenings of the past year or if they are a close friends it would be a heartfelt sentiment. Jane added a large frame sticker to her card front using foam mounting tape for dimension then cut poinsettias from the remaining background paper, the fussy cutting always looks as though it has taken you hours but the design was quite easy and they fill out the design quite nicely!

 

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At Christmas there is always someone special you want to create that one off distinctive card for.  Leanne has used the stunning and traditional All Is Bright range from My Minds Eye to create some unique cards and a tag with a difference.

For this card Leanne gained inspiration from many a pinterest post and a tutorial posted by the talented Marianne Skjelstad.  The card folds flat but then transforms into a standing easel style card.    A tutorial on how to make this style of card can be found here.

Leanne used a combination of chipboard elements and hand pieced fishtail banners to create this banner style card.  The pieces were foam mounted on a die cut piece cut using the Memory Box Tessatina Border Die. 

Leanne finished off the top of the banner with a combination of button, brads and bows all strung together with some twine.

A chipboard element was distressed and added to the card as the sentiment.

 

This special card was constructed using the diamond fold technique. Leanne die cut some memory box scrolls, layered on some hand cut fishtail banner pieces and some folded paper pieces before adding the chipboard “Joy” sentiment.  Leanne applied distress stickles to the “Joy” lettering to add some sparkle.  Some of the fishtail banner pieces were made from the All Is Bright decorative tape which she applied to cardstock before hand cutting them.
A tutorial on how to construct a diamond fold card can be found here

 

This tiny tag was created using a gate fold style construction.  Leanne made the tag background and then added the gatefold sections to the tag front.  These sections were created from label dies. The peg was covered in the All Is Bright decorative tape to tie the pieces together.

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For one of a kind Christmas card why not try a Centre Step Card.  This is a very eye catching dimensional card that is so simple to make all from one piece of cardstock and some clever scoring!  Chris decorated her centre step card using the Echo Park Very Merry Christmas collection kit, Sizzix die cuts and some bling from Prima and Zva Creatives.  For a tutorial on creating a centre step card click here. 

 

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Chris has used the Echo Park Very Merry Christmas collection kit again to create this fabulous card.  I think the 'hero' element of this card is the magnificent red Prima flower with gorgeous jewel in the centre.  The Prima crystal swirls, American Craft glitter and hand stitching all come together to make this Christmas card one that would be treasured. 

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weekend inspiration: basicgrey

 

Sue thinks the Serenade collection from Basic Grey is the Bees Knees!  Oh my gosh, she had such a hard time cutting into those beautiful papers.  Serenade is such a delicate collection with a touch of nature added which is just perfect according to Sue’s tastes.  Sue has scrapped photos of her son Bailey, which capture a little glimpse into his personality.  Sue used the Element Stickers from the collection to add most of the embellishments to her page.  Sue always likes to adhere the stickers onto cardstock and then cut them out.  It allows her to position them on the page during the designing process without them sticking to everything but it also gives them a little more dimension.  Sue also made use of the lovely mini envelopes, the brads and the chiffon flowers from the collection.

 

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Carole loved Basic Grey Aspen Frost, gorgeous papers and stickers to layer and coordinate with your photos, great for any type of winter project.

 

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Kelly Noel is a very talented designer for Basic Grey and she kindly allowed us to share a few of her gorgeous pages.  Kelly says good holiday collections are hard to come by and Basic Grey always knocks it out of the park! To keep with her more clean and graphic style, Kelly paired the gorgeous Aspen Frost papers with a white background to really make the papers pop.  The red/green/blue combo is so fresh and fun!

Kelly also used the Basic Grey Aspen Frost collection for this second layout. She said it was absolutely perfect for all of those Christmas photos she had laying around. Kelly loves the bright red and green and the pop of teal mixed in. Kelly loves the little stitched banners!

 

The third layout of Kelly’s that we are sharing, uses the Basic Grey Soleil collection. Kelly has always been a fan of Basic Grey and Sassafras so the mix is just amazing. Soleil is awesome for all kinds of photos, but for summer ones, it is just perfect. Kelly says she just loves the Sassafras inspired backgrounds that add so much interest and depth to the background.

 

 

How about this wonderfully tranquil card created by Shari Carroll for the BasicGrey design team.  We love the subtle layers and colour palette, and how she has stamped a butterfly directly onto the card behind for a different texture.

 

 

What about a fun double page?!  Els Brige has created this for the Basicgrey blog making use of a double page sketch.  We love the Soleil pops of colour that make this page as fun as the photos she is showcasing.

weekend inspiration: studio calico

 

Studio Calico is such a popular brand with such an awesome array of products. Leeann decide to focus on the masks and mists in this project. Leeann used a sun burst mask and 3 different coloured mists. Once everything was layered and sprayed and was completely dry Leeann cut the rays out. Machine stitched each one for extra detail and used 3D tape for extra dimension. Then simple added her pic and other studio calico embellishments!

 

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Suz used the gorgeous Yearbook Collection for her page, picking up a fab contrast in her page with the teals against the reds.  She loves the simplicity of the Studio Calico designs which makes them a great backdrop for favourite photos.

 

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Sasha Farina has kindly allowed us to share a couple of pages using plenty of Studio Calico products. Sasha also happens to be part of the Studio Calico design team. On both these pages Sasha has used papers and embellishments from HeyDay, another super awesome collection. thank you so much Sasha for allowing us to share some of your amazing creations!

 

We have Geralyn Sy from the Studio Calico Design team to thank for this cool layout.  We love how she has used the index card paper to create a colour blocking effect – it’s bold and fun.

 

 

Studio Calico Design Team Member Jen Jockish has created this warm wood-toned page from the Winter Wonderland collection.

 

And finally this beautiful page by Nicole Samuels is also created from Winter Wonderland, demonstrating just how versatile this line can be. 

christmas cards – quick!

Need ideas to create a heap of Christmas cards quickly?  It’s nearly December – of course you do!!  Here’s some ideas that our design team are hoping will get them out of some jams this Christmas season.

 

Jane created these quick Christmas cards by stamping and clear embossing a tree on the front of the folded cards (smooth side) then she dragged an ink pad down the card over the image (use a sponge around the image if need). Clean over the image with a tissue, Jane then added glitter tape down the sides to create clean lines. She then stamp the sentiments with the same inks, cut them out and arrange them on the cards with a white ribbon bow.

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Simple triangle Christmas trees are one of the quickest and most effective ways of communicating Christmas on a card.  Suz Doyle tends to go back to them every year – mostly because she loves them!  This year she has layered patterned papers on Tim Holtz’s fabulous new mirrored cardstock to create these fun trees.  Simple punches show off the mirror underneath, and raising the trees gives them a really pretty three dimensional look.

 

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Three sheets of patterned paper are all you need to create these gorgeous quick cards by Carole Janson.  She has used the beautiful Webster Pages Royal Christmas range.  The stunning Deck the Halls features 25 gorgeous unique windows and doors and she has used those as the feature to her cards.  Carole also created a tag to match.

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Finally, Jennifer Maguire often makes cards that look like simplicity itself – and sometimes they are, but they are always beautiful!  This breathtaking card can be made using a simple circle mask and your own choice of inks and stamps.  See how Jennifer has created this card here.

scrapbooking the everyday

 

I’m sure we all have random photos – ones which will never make it onto their own scrapbook layout, or perhaps even off the hard drive.  They’re not particularly noteworthy, but they certainly capture tiny moments of time, tiny details that might just be a more fascinating view into our lives than many perfect portraits.

 

Suz has decided to round a lot of these shots up and turn them into a page for each month, printing most of the photos at 2x2” – small enough to fit lots on a page, large enough to be able to enjoy the details.  Some are from her camera, some from her phone, and most are more about the minutiae of everyday life rather than the big events.

 

It was interesting to her too to cover these three months and note how many of them moved from indoor winter activities and shots to more outdoor and active photos as the weather warms up later in the year.

 

Suz has used the Snap! Studio range by Simple Stories for her pages.  With so many random photos it would be easy to be overwhelmed with bold patterns and multicoloured papers, so this range is just perfect with many monotone and simple prints.  For each page she took her colour cue from the monthly title stickers, and used elements from the journalling spots and word stickers of that colour to give a cohesive feel to each page.  The pages look particularly effective one after another in an album, with each different colour changing the mood of the page.  The format for each page is the same and predictable which allows the focus to remain on the photos.

weekend inspiration: tim holtz

 

Jill took inspiration from the wonderful vintage portraits contained in the Paper Stash and used to to create a story.  She has featured a quote from one of her favourite movies "Cider House Rules" to show to passage from a difficult childhood to manhood. 

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Louise's thoughts are, 'what’s not to love' about the Tim Holtz Range?! Whilst the embellishments are very much suited to grunge, industrial, and steampunk styles, they also lend themselves perfectly to simple and minimalist styles; as in Louise's case. Tim Holtz Ideology embellishments are perfectly versatile and suit all types and themes for your paper crafting project.

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If you are looking for unique use of Tim Holtz range of embellishments and papers then look at these wonderful creations by Finnabair [aka Anna Dabrowska ] Thank you Finn for sharing your unique creativity with Tim Holtz products.

 

Thank you so very much to Marji Kemper  for sharing with us her fabulous tag created using the awesome Tim Holtz grunge board ideology embellishments and cutting dies.

weekend inspiration: american crafts

 

The tiny touches of gold glitter and foil alongside the gorgeous soft gelato colour palette is what made Suz Doyle fall in love with Dear Lizzy’s ‘5th and Frolic’ line from American crafts.  It’s pretty and girly but still a little sophisticated, which also kind of suits her daughter to a T as well!

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Iris always says that working with Amy Tangerine collection is such a thrill. You get everything you will ever need to create a funky dimensional page. The base paper is stitched and features a cluster of layered embellishments in one corner. That alone already gives you an amazing page design to start with. Add the dimensional stickers and fabric stickers and you are all set to go. Iris shares with us a recent page she made using the “Ready Set Go” collection for her European vacation to Brugge, Belgium – otherwise known as the “Venice of the North” because of its beautiful canals.

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Another amazing thing about Amy Tangerine collections is that it easily blends with the older releases. Here, Iris mixes the new “Ready Set Go” collection with the older Amy Tangerine papers and embellishments.

 

  

 

April Lim shares with us a cheerful and crisp layout about a special bonding moment she shared with her son. She uses hand-cut elements to reflect the mood of the day as well as the love she shares with her son. Thank you April for the inspiration!

 

How pretty is this card using the 5th&Frolic line created by Lilith Eckels.   Lizzie Kartchner.  The garland comes ready made for you to adorn your projects.

 

Cathy Pascual from the American Crafts design team created this vibrant layout using the Soho Garden collection.  We love how she repeated the bow motif from her daughters top in her embellishments.

 

This happy single page by American Crafts DT member Becky Williams also uses the Soho Garden range.  We love her pops of colour – the hot pinks and reds , the gorgeous gold and of course the vibrant aqua that comes from the photos themselves.

christmas cards – quick!

 

Some card makers can often find Christmas card making to be a little frustrating and stressful. Instead of card making being a creative outlet or something that brings you joy - it starts to become just another job on the Christmas to do list and you can be overwhelmed with so many cards to make.  This year that does not need to be the case. Leanne has put together some Christmas cards and tags using the Simple Stories Handmade Holiday range that are quick, easy and fun to make. 

By combining the 3x4 and 4x6 Holiday Cards along with a 6x6 paper pad, the Handmade Holiday range just works so easily together.  You can come up with one design and replicate that a number of times alternating the papers, embellishments and colour combinations you use.

 

Using the bingo cards and flash cards as the focal point on these cards Leanne made each card look different and yet they all follow the same basic layout.

 

The 6x6 paper pad has miniature journaling elements which become perfect little tag toppers.  Leanne combined them with the 3x4 Holiday Cards and they instantly become cute tags.  On some tags/gift cards she added some extra embellishments like buttons, stickers etc and others were left just as they were.  Flipping the basic layout from portrait to landscape Leanne was also able to change the look of the gift cards.

 

 

Leanne turned the cardstock stickers into embellishments by mounting them on foam tape to add extra dimension to her tag.

 

Leanne decided a quick and fun way to use up those left over off cuts was to turn them into fishtail banners.  She teamed them up with the 4x6 Holiday Cards as they make an instant and perfect background.

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No sentiment needed on this Christmas card as it's all in the Hero Arts Background stamp!  Ink the Merry Background stamp with your favourite inks, stamp it onto Kraft cardstock, then using silver embossing powder, heat emboss the beautiful Branch & Flourish tree stamp also from Hero Arts, cut around the tree and it's ready to mount onto your card.  Add some bling and you're done!

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For this quick set of gorgeous Christmas cards, grab your favourite Christmas themed pattern paper - Chris has chosen Jillibean Soup Christmas Eve Chowder, use small strips of the paper to frame the Branch & Flourish Tree stamp.  Complete the card with some crystals, pearls and a simple sentiment.

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This final card took Chris just 15 minutes to make and she said if she was making this card in bulk it could be even quicker once you get all the pieces cut out and start a production line.  The flourish tree stamp was heat embossed with white embossing powder and the rest of the card is simple cutting.  Chris used the Echo Park Very Merry Christmas collection kit.

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